The New York Stock Exchange
closed its trading floors on Monday October 29, 2012 after Mayor Bloomberg told
folks in New York on Sunday that the transit system, subway would close at 7 PM
and perhaps for a couple of days. This included the underground traffic tunnels
and mandatory evacuations were required for low-elevation areas were issued due
to Hurricane Sandy with an expected storm surge of 11-feet, plus 75 mph winds.
Okay so, let’s talk about the NYSE closure due to weather, something that by
the way hasn’t happened in 30-years.

Now then, the other day on
October 19, 2012 the stock market had a negative 205.43 day on the DOW, which
happened to be the anniversary of the 1987 crash, also known as Black Monday
(October 19, 1987). Well, consider this, the New York Times noted in their
online emailed edition that “On This Day” in history; Oct. 29, 1929,
stock prices collapsed on the New York Stock Exchange amid panic selling.
Thousands of investors were wiped out. On the front page of the New York Times
on that dreadful day of 1929 there was an article titled;

“Stock Market Collapse in
16,410,030-Share Day but Rally At Close Cheers Brokers; Bankers Optimistic to
Continue Aid”

Okay so, I guess knowing these
two coinciding patterns, that this might be a very wise day to close the NYSE
with or without a “historic storm” some 850 miles wide, which is
Hurricane Sandy, which now combining as it hits the shore with a cold front.
You know what happens when you mix wicked cold air with very warm air from a
Hurricane let’s say. You get amazing thunder and lightning storms and massive
amounts of rain, plus all that energy and moisture from the Hurricane, ouch!
And consider that this is …

As I expected, the U.S. downgrade
by S&P was going to be a lot worse for the stock market than for
treasuries. This came as major surprise for most people as it is counter
intuitive. The reason being is that it was not so much a loss in confidence in
the ability of the U.S. Government to pay its debts as it was a signal that the
free spending ways of the last 50 years is ending. History shows that sovereign
downgrades spark action in governments to tighten their belts and cut budgets.
Less spending, whether it be in employment, infrastructure or social services
including Social Security and Medicare means less aggregate demand in an
economy and thus less revenue and profit.

In simple terms, the downgrade
applies very little to the creditworthiness of U.S. Treasuries, even though we
are now rated below Finland, Luxemburg and the Isle of Man. It was only S&P
that downgraded us, while both Fitch and Moody’s left the triple A rating. The
real effect, and what it really means to you and me, is that it is going to
light a fire under our politicians ass to cut spending at a time when our
economy is already incredibly fragile from not enough spending and consumer
demand (70% of our economy is consumer spending) from our aging population
which naturally spends less as it gets older and an already massively indebted
population who has no more spending power.

With the recent drop, there is a
lot of talk about this being similar to last year’s correction. This is not
D?j? vu all over again. The global economy is slowing and the global debt
crisis is getting more intense, and it’s not just a U.S. problem either. It is
a global problem, particularly amongst the developed …

With retirement in the UK
providing a very grim view in key areas, other investment vehicles are often
seen by people who are trying to provide a better quality of life when they
finally leave the workforce.

Many financial products have an
impact on personal benefits, which for many people outperforms the object of
investing in different investment vehicles. ISA shares and shares, however,
changed the game because it had some very good tax rules. They:

Dividends are not subject to additional tax

Capital gains are not taxed

Bond interest is not taxed

Income,
capital gains, or trade are not considered taxable income so they do not have
to be reported to the HMRC.

As stated
earlier, personal benefits are not affected for people whose income is around
22,900, at least at this time. Other systems often fail miserably in this case.

With ISA
shares and shares, retirement performance, although still important, loses a
slight advantage. Although it should be noted that as the name suggests, ISA
shares and shares are still dependent on the stock market. But most financial
professionals will tell you that not having all the money tied up in one fund
is a good idea, especially considering the fluctuating nature of the world
economy.

The
benefits of ISA shares and shares, especially when running side by side with
pensions, give investors a better chance to get a good quality of life.
Actually, more than having all the money tied to retirement.

If you are
nearing retirement and are worried about what your current retirement or
pension will result, you might want to look at stocks and distribute ISA,
because that might offer you not so many alternatives, but more than reserves
for retirement should be in their performance .

Bank current accounts are very
useful things that affect our daily lives and help us to make financial
transactions as easily as possible. There are now huge options to consider when
choosing the right bank account for you and the different products cover also
business accounts plus limited ones for children with the ambition of teaching
them how to use money well from an early age. The high street banks tend to
offer quite similar deals, in terms of financial returns, and the
differentiating factors may just be a few short term bonuses such as a free
train pass for young people or some electronic products. Whether these are
enough to sway you towards a particular company is really down to your needs
and personal taste.

There are varying levels of
interest which you will receive on the money that you leave in your account,
though these types of accounts always have instant access which makes them
ideal for using in daily financial tasks such as buying food, paying bills and
such like. There are comparison tables available online and in many newspapers
which allow you to quickly compare rates of return on hundreds of different
current accounts from all sorts of different companies across your specific
country and these are most likely to be up to date and make a great place to
start when choosing a current account.

There are also additional
business accounts which have their own factors to consider and rarely will
these include any exciting bonuses as they will concentrate on good financial
attributes which the buyer will more likely be interested in. Child accounts
will normally be chosen from the same company that the parent setting it up is
already using as that will make it easier to transfer funds between the
accounts and …

Home offices are becoming a trend because people can easily
connect via the internet. They can start their own business at home, selling
software, solutions, arts and crafts, or build their own design studio instead
of working for an agency. These are all possible with enough funding coming
from personal resources, bank loans, venture capital, and crowdfunding.

Personal Resources

You can always start by funding your own business. A lot of
employees work hard to save up for a future business venture, so they can leave
their old jobs and be their own boss. However, not everyone has the capacity to
fund their own business, but they can still rely on family and friends for
financial support. It will just require a bit of encouragement and reassurance
to convince your family or friends to lend a hand.

Venture Capital

Venture capital is a good opportunity for any well-developed
business model. Here, you have the chance to get funding and support from
investors. A venture capitalist will have control over major decisions for the
business and probably have a portion of ownership. This is ideal for the early
stages of a business with potential for rapid growth. Many software developers
rely on venture capital because innovative technology is one of the top
businesses that investors are looking for. The potential to be as big as Apple,
Dell, or Facebook is interesting to many venture capitalists.

Business Loans

If you have good credit standing, you will have a good
chance of getting a loan for your business. Make sure you have a foolproof and
impressive business plan to begin with. They will review your credit standing
and business plan to see if you are fit to be awarded a loan for your project.
For those with bad credit, many experts suggest that …